So short was Button's car racing history that he was still racing karts as recently as 1997. So when Williams plucked him from British Formula 3 series to face heroes like Michael Schumacher in the 2000 world championship, the entire world was shocked.

Follow up:

After early success in the 1989 British Cadet Kart Superprix, consecutive British Cadet championships in 1990 and 1991 (clean sweep of all races) followed. First place in the British Open championship, the National and Open titles paved the way to the European series the following year.


In 1995, Button rocked the establishment by finishing second overall in the World Championships. 1996 brought a top-five championship finish in the European Formula A series, third in the American championship.


The following season, Jenson became the youngest European Formula Super A champion in history, taking the title at 17. A win in the Ayrton Senna Memorial meeting was simply an added bonus! Next, he stormed through to win both the British championship and the Ford Festival in his first year in cars.


Receipt of the prestigious McLaren/Autosport Young Driver Award was a fitting end to the year. So it was little surprise when the Renault-backed Promatecme outfit broke with tradition to sign the youngster for the 1999 F3 season.


Three race wins led to third overall in the championship behind Marc Hynes and Luciano Burti, but Button ended his year by testing for McLaren, Prost and Williams. Having outpaced F1 veteran Jean Alesi in his Prost test, Button had to endure a tense weeklong shoot-out with Williams reserve Bruno Junqueira to see who would replace Alex Zanardi at the Grove outfit.


He got the nod just minutes before the team's line-up was revealed to the media, and apparently only after team boss Frank Williams had an overnight change of heart! Jenson partnered Ralf Schumacher in the Williams team powered by BMW. With the knowledge that Juan Montoya was waiting in the wings, the press began writing his F1 obituary mid-season - and he responded to the pressure with some sterling drives.


No podiums materialized in the course of the year, but Button became a regular threat for points. In the end, despite outcry from press and public alike, Button was dispatched to Benetton to continue his F1 learning curve.


Determined to fight his way back into the Williams fold, Button looked to be battling for points in 2001. However, the radical Benetton B201 mated to Renault's equally out-of-the ordinary wide-angle V10, prevented him - and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella - from making an impact.


A shoulder injury early in the year, not helped by his car's lack of power steering, also failed to endear the Briton to team boss Flavio Briatore. Somehow he survived to become a fully-fledged Renault works driver.


The 2002 season started brightly. Button seemed to have made up with team boss Briatore. The first few races yielded three straight points. But Jenson would score more points as the season wore on.


The Brit was hopeful he had done enough to stay on with the Regie camp. It was not to be however, and Briatore favoured promoting test driver Fernando Alonso to partner Trulli - a decision announced at the French GP.


Button thus signed with BAR-Honda in late July, a two-year deal, with options for another two. He lined-up alongside Jacques Villeneuve in 2003 and while BAR were not a top team, with sole Honda backing, they did enough to finish the year fifth - best of the rest in the Constructors', after the 'big four', Ferrari, Williams, McLaren and Renault.


2004 promised much for the Brit, and following BAR's decision to axe JV, a lot rested on his shoulders, as team leader. He didn't fail though to rise to the challenge, and Jenson went on to score 85 points during the course of the year, as well as getting his first podium.


The BAR-Honda 006 was a good car. While not capable of beating Ferrari, Jenson finished third in the drivers' championship with 10 podiums, including four 2nd places, helping BAR-Honda secure second in the Constructors'.


Off-track though, a failed attempt to try and join Williams, somewhat took the sheen off his year. BAR boss David Richards fiercely resisted the challenge and won the Contract Recognition Board hearing.


Jenson remained a BAR driver in 2005 and to everyone's surprise, a year later, he decided to stay with the team rather than go to Williams as he was contracted to do. The battle fought the previous year was thus fought in reverse with Jenson finally buying way out of the Williams deal to take up a huge offer from Honda.


While Jenson has laid that debate to rest, the fact that he hasd't won once in a hundred grands prix caused tremendous media pressure on him. And with a proven-winner Rubens Barrichello his new teammate, the formula 1 world was interested to see how Jenson responds.


Well now, after 13 races, Button has finally broken his duck with a fine win at the Hungaroring. Afer 13 races, he's lying 6th in the championship, but I suspect his final numbers will mean little compared to his first ever win.


Source: Wheel2wheel


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